Before the elevator doors had fully opened, Jiang Huaixiao had already hung up.
The instant the audio switched to the car's Bluetooth, the Bentley's engine let out a low growl in the garage. The scrape of tires gripping the ground echoed through the enclosed space, triggering an entire row of sound-activated lights.
Meanwhile, in the monitoring room at the Jiang family villa, Secretary Chen had already pulled up the second-floor surveillance footage.
As the timeline was dragged back, Jiang Yanchu stood behind the secretary with one hand braced on the edge of the desk, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as fast as he wiped it away.
On-screen, at 9:47 a.m., Jiang Xun walked out of his room, paused in the hallway, and turned his head to glance toward the stairs.
The sounds of instruments being tuned downstairs were full of cheer. Flowers wound along the banister all the way to the foyer, and servants bustled back and forth carrying silver trays.
Jiang Xun looked away, turned to push open the storage room door, and squeezed inside sideways. The door closed soundlessly behind him.
There were no cameras in the storage room, but the hallway had only one exit. If he came out of the storage room, he would have to pass the camera at the end of the hall.
But he never did.
Jiang Yanchu had Secretary Chen advance the footage of the storage room entrance by fifteen minutes. On-screen, the door remained completely still.
Thirty minutes, and still nothing.
At forty-five minutes, Jiang Yanchu was about to send someone to pry open the storage room door when Secretary Chen suddenly hit pause.
"Second Young Master, look here."
The feed switched to a wide-angle camera on the villa's exterior.
At 10:03 a.m., someone pushed open the second-floor storage